Weekly Round-up

A few months ago, Occupy Wall Street offshoot Strike Debt made international headlines through its Rolling Jubilee initiative that raised more than $500,000 to purchase and abolish debt.

Strike Debt will soon be making a big announcement about a large amount of medical debt they have abolished, and is calling for a week of education and organizing culminating in a day of action in New York City on March 23.

The attention this buy will generate can be utilized to highlight the profound inhumanity and inequality of our medical payment system and create a vision of a world where healthcare is truly treated as a right.

Strike Debt is demanding the cancellation of all medical debts and a radically transformed healthcare system based on everybody's need for wellness and not the 1%'s desire for wealth.

Occupy in the News

Nick Pinto at the Village Voice Blog reports that Michael Premo, OWS activist, was found innocent of all charges stemming from the Duarte Square protest at which he was said to have resisted arrest. A Democracy Now cameraman caught the whole thing on tape and Premo was exonerated. As Premo's lawyer said: "the case highlight[s] the significance of having the press, livestreamers and professional video journalists present during demonstrations." So keep your cameras rolling!

For insight into Occupy in the U.K. and internationally read Tim Gee's post at the Guardian blog. This insightful post takes stock of the difficulties facing the movement as it goes up against the rapacity of global capitalism, gives credit to the development of Strike Debt, and offers some suggestions of tactics for moving forward.

Food for thought:

At occupywallstreet.net, Toby Cumberbatch of the Electrical Engineering Department at Cooper Union challenges the school to rethink its mission and to reclaim the ideals of its founder, Peter Cooper, with a series of radical proposals. This fight goes "beyond the boundaries of Astor Place and NYC." As he puts it, "the concept of education that is as free as air and water is critically important for the survival of humankind."

Featured Occu-Project

"OWS Radio," which has been airing weeknights at 6:30 PM EST on WBAI 99.5 FM New York since October 2011, is a show by and for the Occupy movement, covering Occupy news, Occupy theory, and Occupy tactics.

Regrettably, WBAI is facing a struggle for their survival in the wake of the impact from Superstorm Sandy, so please consider a donation to support this Pacifica station which was both the birthplace of "Democracy Now!" as well as one of the earliest major media outlets to give voice to Occupy Wall Street!

Occupy These Actions & Events

Thursday, March 7th, 6pm

Telling personal stories can empower storytellers, build community, and move groups to action. In the second year of Occupy Wall Street, how has storytelling moved out of the encampments and assemblies and into campaigns for housing, health care, debt resistance, and more? What are the challenges involved in hearing, recording, and archiving people's tales? Join movement organizers from groups in and beyond OWS for a conversation about storytelling as tool of transformation.

Sunday, March 10th, 2pm

Join the Occupy Your Workplace group for a discussion of strategy and tactics of workplace organizing. We'll have several folks present who have experience as workplace "salts" - workers who get jobs with the aim of organizing. Workers who are curious about organizing, experienced organizers and activists, union members, and all other workers and non workers welcome. RSVP for the event on Facebook.

Thursday, March 14, 2013

SDS/Occupy Colleges is hosting a National Day of Action against Tuition and Fee Hikes. Join to get updates on flyers, coordination calls and other distribution materials. Message Occupy Colleges and we will help promote your campus/ organizations demonstration.

Tuesday, March 19th, 5:30pm

"Earthlings" is a movie that intends to free us from a dark cave, into seeing what is hidden from most of us...the shadows of happy circus elephants by whom we are "entertained"; the "fashionable" clothes we wear; the cosmetics we wear in search of "aesthetics", or the happy farm animals we see on children's books. Oscar Award winner Joaquin Phoenix narrates.

Come view "Earthlings" at Hunter College on March 13 and then follow-up with discussion there, less than a week later.

March 16-23

Our grassroots movement to stop the tar sands is growing! For TransCanada "business as usual" means death and destruction for our communities. Together we can stop this multinational corporate bully and their toxic profiteers. Sign up to host an action/event in your community as part of the Week of Action to Stop Tar Sands Profiteers, March 16-23. Show up at their offices, public events, and extraction sites to demonstrate that we won't stop until they do. Find a TransCanada or investor's office in your community: http://www.tarsandsblockade.org/local_actionkxlblockade@riseup.net.

Monday, March 18th, 12pm

Occupy the NRA (ONRA) is launching a long ­term social action campaign to hold Wall Street firms accountable for their investments in gun manufacturers. We will push these firms to divest their stocks in these blood­soaked companies, hitting them where it hurts most, namely, their bottom line. On March 18th, 2013, we will use direct actions in the Occupy tradition against Blackstone, Cerberus & Owl Creek Asset Management (OCAM). We chose these firms because they either own millions of dollars of holdings in gun manufacturers' stock or bought stock as a direct result of the Sandy Hook massacre.

March 22-24

Join hundreds of leaders, organizers, techies and activists to share our wisdom, skills, and talents. We will have workshops, discussions, consulting and networking opportunities, visionary speakers and a provocative debate around strategy and practices.

Over three days right by Wall Street, we will bring together a thousand people to learn from each other, share stories and strategies and build our skills, organizations and movements.

This is an event that occupy organizers will be participating in to build and share their skills. It will assuredly build upon the success of last year's OWS unconference that was held in collaboration with Organizing 2.0.